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MSU women fall to Crookston, need help for home playoff game

Sean Arbaut/Minot State athletics Minot State's Diondra Denton (44) shoots a 3-pointer during a women's college basketball game Friday at the MSU Dome in Minot.

Today’s regular season finale will determine if the Minot State women’s basketball team will accomplish its preseason goal of hosting a home playoff game, or if the Beavers will instead be road bound.

MSU had a chance to clinch a home playoff berth Friday, but needed a victory over Minnesota Crookston and a Winona State loss.

Unfortunately for the Beavers, they got neither.

MSU fell to the Golden Eagles 66-64 at the MSU Dome, and Winona upset Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference leader Augustana 71-67 at home. The Beavers can still host in their first round game, but need two things to happen first.

MSU needs to beat Bemidji State in today’s contest at the MSU Dome and needs either Winona State to lose to Wayne State at home, or Sioux Falls to lose to Mankato at home.

On Friday, Crookston built a 36-32 halftime lead, then extended the advantage to 57-48 heading into the fourth quarter.

MSU reduced the deficit to two points, 66-64, with 4 seconds remaining. Coming out of a timeout, senior forward Holly Johnson had a decent look to send the contest into overtime at the buzzer. Johnson’s mid-range shot bounced on the rim several times, but harmlessly fell to the floor, much to the dismay of the 6-foot sharpshooter.

Mariah Payne led MSU with 14 points, while Diondra Denton chipped in 13 and Maddie Wald and Johnson each scored 10 points. Johnson also had a game-high 15 rebounds, giving her a double-double on the night. The Beavers shot 41 percent from the floor, 9-of-24 from 3-point range and outrebounded the Golden Eagles 42-35.

Isieoma Odor had a game-high 20 points for Crookston, while Emily Gruber added 14. The Golden Eagles shot 37.9 percent from the floor, 10-of-29 from beyond the arc and racked up 16 assists.

MSU takes on Bemidji State at 4 p.m. today at the MSU.

Garrick Hodge covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @Garrick_Hodge

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